Italian environmentalists are in a stew after guests at a gourmet food
festival in the north of the country were served goulash made from bear meat.

Authorities in the province of Bolzano, in north-east Italy, have opened an investigation after meat from a European brown bear was served up at the festival in the town of Merano earlier this month.

It was stewed for six hours before being served up on polenta. The goulash reportedly went down very well with diners, many of whom compared it to wild boar meat, but it has left a sour taste in the mouth of animal rights campaigners.

The brown bear is a protected species in Italy and hunting them, let alone eating them, is prohibited.

The goulash was served up by a Slovenian chef, Tomaz Kavcic, a rising culinary star in his home country.

The meat was from a bear that was allegedly killed in Slovenia, rather than Italy. "The bear was safely killed in a regulated manner, through a recognised organisation that is skilled at this sort of thing," said Helmut Kocher, one of the festival organisers.

But Italian authorities believe that it may have been imported into the country without the necessary paperwork.

Andrea Ragazzoni, an inspector from the provincial hunting and fishing authority, said: "Even if it is true that the bear was legally killed in Slovenia, it should have been imported with the correct permits. We have asked to see them but so far nothing has been shown to us."

Merano is in the German-speaking Sud Tirol/Alto Adige region of Italy, where locals have a keen appetite for wild game, including venison, wild boar and chamois.

But even the most devoted meat-eaters expressed outrage at the thought of eating bear.

Millions of euros have been spent by Italy to introduce bears from Slovenia to the Dolomites in the hopes of re-establishing a viable population after the species was all but wiped out by hunters and farmers.

There are believed to be more than 400 wild bears in Slovenia and, along with wolves, they are subject to an annual cull.

The culls provoke protests from domestic and international wildlife groups, who say the quota is often too high.